


Traditions

by mamodewberry



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, Holidays, M/M, New Year's Eve, possible scene for main fic later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 08:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3113561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mamodewberry/pseuds/mamodewberry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What do two boyfriends in Tokyo decide to do as a New Year's tradition?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Traditions

Moving away from family, and all familiar, meant setting your own traditions, or choosing to carry on some, or meeting halfway in compromise.

 

For Christmas they had gotten a small tree and decorated with their modest budget, though splurged a little more for a star as Makoto’s family always placed it on the tree on Christmas Eve. Haru’s parents were always away during Christmas, or any holiday for that matter, and mostly of what he knew about the gift giving holiday came from the Tachibanas and he always liked how they gathered under the tree in the morning and took turns opening presents. Their first year in Tokyo they kept those traditions.

New Year’s was a different sort of holiday. As children, staying up until midnight was an exciting novelty. As teenagers you’d gather with friends and stay awake until you couldn’t any longer. Now they were adults, supposed to be adults, and it was only the two of them - the best way to spend any sort of holiday - and their excited levels were somewhere in between. 

From their balcony they watched the grand firework display. Fellow tenants from their building and the next over could be heard shouting variations of “Happy New Year!” banging on pots, clinking of glasses and stomping of feet.

They leaned in to each other from the railing for their first kiss of the new year, the chill of the air disappearing in favor of their heat.

Happy New Year they conveyed to the other, eyes glistening and reflecting the shooting lights in the sky. Another look and they brought their celebration to bed. One new tradition decided.

 

“Ah Haru, I’ve got it!” Makoto sat up with so much force and enthusiasm, the sheets nearly flew off.

With a groan, Haru grabbed for the comforter and wrapped it around himself, Makoto’s warmth now removed. “What do you got?”

“We should stay awake to greet the sunrise of the new year.”

“I thought we already settled on a New Year’s tradition,” Haru said, a little breathless as his eyes browsed Makoto in the moonlight.

Makoto blushed. “Oh, this would be considered more of an Eve thing, wouldn’t it?”

“I guess.”

“Can we, Haru?” Makoto laid his head on Haru and nuzzled along his chest in pleading.

“What are we going to do for-,” Haru paused to look at the digital clock on Makoto’s side of the bed, “-for six hours?”

Six hours was a long time. Makoto looked around the room as if the answer was somewhere, and then back to Haru who kept his gaze on him. “We can keep doing what we were doing?”

“We’d get tired,” Haru said, point-blank, but Makoto knew the idea had come to his mind the moment he asked what they’d do to fill the time. “Besides, you can’t stay up late, anyway. I allowed this because it was a holiday, but you need your rest.”

“It would still be a holiday…”

“Makoto.”

“What if we went to sleep and set an alarm and got up with the sunrise?”

“And then what?”

“We could… go to a shrine and pray for blessings for the year. There’s that one by your university, right? I think they would be open at dawn. What do you think, Haru?” Makoto positioned himself so they’d see eye to eye. “It probably won’t be crowded first thing in the morning?”

Haru frowned, considering the proposition. He sighed, the sigh that Makoto knew meant he was giving in as there was no way he could talk him out of it, but also not completely against the idea, either. “If that’s what you want.”

His eyes widened, “Are you sure?” he asked, knowing he was, but it never hurt to double check.

Haru hummed of approval, and then seemed bashful. “When we get back, can we take a bath together?”

Maybe because he rarely asked, it was more of an assumption of their daily life. “Of course! We can’t start a good year without one of those.”

“Can we wear our hakama at the shrine?”

“I’ll have to find it…” he trailed his thoughts into the closet of where in the world his would be within it. “But yes, definitely! I like how you look in one.”

He averted his eyes, embarrassed once more, and then looked at Makoto. You like nice in yours, too. Please wear it.

Makoto placed a chaste kiss on Haru’s lips and slid out of the covers to start looking for their hakama. He shuffled through the top shelves for the long boxes buried underneath boxes of unknown things. After dodging some loose shoes and smaller boxes, Makoto retrieved them and walked out of the closet, presenting the boxes. “Yay, I found them! Oh, did we decide if we were setting an alarm or staying up?”

“I’ll set an alarm in case we do fall asleep.”

 

Neither remembered much after Makoto came back to bed once he found the boxes, but they did wake up to the alarm at 5:30am. Drowsily they rolled out of bed and dressed each other, correcting creases and folds and tying the obi. They grabbed a pastry and canned coffee at the convenience store to share on their way to the station. 

As they boarded one of the first trains of the morning, sunlight started to peak over the horizon and through the skyscrapers of the city.

“Ah!” Makoto marveled through the window and grasped Haru’s hand, any fatigue that had been there was gone. “Look at that; a new year, a new day.”

With the his free hand, Haru tried to hide a yawn, but nodded in accord.

We won’t be long Makoto said.

The train came to a stop and the sun was in the perfect position to cast gold through the trees of the shrine. The rope of the Torii was down, signifying it was open, and as Makoto predicted, the grounds were deserted. Reverently they walked through the snow-dusted shrine, nodding toward the singular priest they passed, and approached the offering box in front of the worship hall.

Side by side they stood.

You go first Haru told him. This was your idea.

“Oh. Okay.” He fished for a hundred yen coin in his sleeve, satisfied it was there and rang the bell, bowed, deposited the coin, clapped his hands twice. Haru’s eyes were on him, admiring and possibly curious as to what he’d be praying for. It was bad luck to tell someone what you prayed for, wasn’t it?

I want Haru to be happy. Always happy. His happiness is important to me… When the day comes when I’m not around… I hope he’ll be able to still be happy. Please help him with that.

Satisfied, Makoto stepped away from the offering box to allow Haru forward without a word, so not to disrupt the spiritual moment.

He watched Haru’s profile, marveling at how regal and handsome he looked in his hakama, raven hair tinted blue in the morning light. His bangs didn’t quite move back into place when he raised from his bow, covering his eyes from his view. Lips tightened as he stared into the offering box as if holding back from saying his prayer out loud. What would Haru pray for?

No, he wouldn’t ask, just as he wouldn’t say what his own prayer was and always will be. Whatever Haru was wishing for, it seemed the most important to him. And maybe, just maybe, they wished the same thing.

**Author's Note:**

> I had posted this on Tumblr already, but I decided to make an account and start posting things here in prep for a multi-chapter MakoHaru fic in the works. Yay!


End file.
